Leadnaija
Former National Vice Chairman, North West of the All Progressives Congress, Salihu Lukman, has cautioned politicians in opposition parties considering an alternative platform to dislodge the ruling APC, urging them to prioritise building democracy rather than merely seeking power.
Lukman made the appeal over the weekend in a statement titled, “Re: Early Outline of the Permutations for 2027.”
He emphasised that key figures involved in discussions regarding the formation of a new political party, particularly former presidential aspirants, must be willing to subordinate their individual aspirations in order to safeguard democracy.
The former Director General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, recalling the power struggle in the APC after the People’s Democratic Party’s defeat in 2015, noted that the vision that informed the formation of the once-ruling party was undermined by the desperation for power among the various presidential aspirants within the APC.
The statement reads in part: “Both with respect to the PDP in 1998 and APC in 2023, Nigeria’s political history shows that it is possible for the struggle to enforce the choice of a presidential candidate to come from a particular section of the country, based on the recognition of the need for inclusivity and balanced political considerations.
“Once these debates are taken outside the structures of the party and driven by primordial sentiments, the prospects of betrayal and internal sabotage are high, as demonstrated in the PDP.
“The flip side is that we can achieve a power shift and so-called balancing, which ends up eroding the welfare and living conditions of citizens, including the section of the country where the President comes from, which is what the case of the APC and President Tinubu represent.”
“Being someone who has had the privilege of engaging virtually all opposition and displaced leaders in the last year, one of the questions I have tried to pose to all of them is whether they want to replicate the realities that drove the aspirations of former Presidents Buhari and Tinubu by imposing their personal ambitions and ensuring that they achieve them, even if it ultimately destroys their political credentials as selfless people committed to national development.
“Or do they want to carve a new trajectory, taking the path of honor and providing new political leadership to the country? The new, desirable political leadership required is one of selflessness, which can unite both politicians and citizens in the country in a new direction.
“If it has any potential to strengthen Nigerian democracy, this new direction should promote political competition, both internally within the new party and nationally.”
“As it stands, the mindset of most opposition and displaced political leaders is more inclined toward blocking political competition in the country.
“The truth is that any political leader prioritising the debate about power shift over building a strong political party that can set the rules and enforce them may only be hiding behind such arguments to impose himself or herself, and perhaps inevitably continue the political practice of emperors and dictators.
“Everything must be done to depart from that and create a new political reality in the country. If the APC is a failure, we must not allow the ambitions of politicians to hold us captive.
“2027 presents us with the opportunity to reorient Nigerian democracy and return it to the path of producing political leaders through competition.”Tap Here for the Full Story
“I am confident that, just as Nigerians were able to stand up to the military and win the struggle for democracy, we can stand up to politicians and win the struggle for competitive political contest in the country and defeat the culture of imposition, which has destroyed both the PDP and APC.”
